Question
I also received my orchid as a gift. It is a phalaenopsis. All of the blooms have fallen off recently. I have read elsewhere that I should cut back the stem above the little spike where the bloom closest to the root was. Is this correct?
Also, how do I know if my orchid needs repotting and if it needs some form of feeding?
Any help appreciated,
Eimear

Answer
Hello Eimear,

Congratulations upon receiving a phalaenopsis as a gift.  

Yes, that is the normal thing to do after the flowers have all died off, cutting the stem off as low as you safely can without damaging the plant.  Or you can do as some books suggest, cutting it just below where the bottom most flower had been.  A word of caution, do this only if there are 4 or more mature leaves as producing flowers takes quite a bit of the phals. energy.  Phals. do not have a large reserve of energy and forcing it to produce a second crop of flowers can use up what little reserve it has.  

Phals. do not mind being repotted annually, in fact they love it and will usually put on a growth spurt soon after.  The best time to repot is soon after it finishes blooming.  

It would be a good idea to feed it once in a while.  Use a balance type fertilizer recommended for orchids but use 1/4 the amount suggested on the container as phals. do not require lots of it to grow and bloom.  

Hope this has helped.  Goof luck and good growing.

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.